There is no denying the fact that Jasprit Bumrah is a modern-day great; in not one but all three formats. Bumrah is one of the rare Indian cricketers whose place in all three Playing XIs is cemented. That he chooses to rest or be given a break is a different thing. But when available, Bumrah is a sure-shot guarantee to play and succeed. Off days are extremely rare for India's pacer spearhead and that he has become even more menacing than before since returning from a career-threatening back injury makes him all the more irreplaceable in the squad.
Bumrah's plaudits have reached worldwide, including the other side of the border, with former Pakistan captain and PCB chairman Ramiz Raja singing his praises. Hailing Bumrah as a legend in all three formats, Ramiz touched upon the greatness of the India quick, explaining how he overcame all the odds to become the No. 1 bowler in the world.
"In my book, Jasprit Bumrah is a legend in all three formats. There is no one greater who has played all three formats. So you can see, where this boy came from, he lacked confidence, had an awkward bowling action. He was unfit, but he came back, and now he has made India win the World Cup," Ramiz Raja said on his YouTube channel.
Surprisingly, Ramiz's comments come at a time when a video of Gautam Gambhir, the newly-appointed head coach of the Indian cricket team, also emerged, where he talks about the importance of having more all-format players. At present, India's T20I set-up wears a different and much younger, fresher look than the ODI and Test sides. After the retirement of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja following India's T20I World Cup win, the T20I unit is expected to usher in a new era, which will feature more youngsters.
What Gambhir had said earlier about the importance of having all-format players
{{/usCountry}}Surprisingly, Ramiz's comments come at a time when a video of Gautam Gambhir, the newly-appointed head coach of the Indian cricket team, also emerged, where he talks about the importance of having more all-format players. At present, India's T20I set-up wears a different and much younger, fresher look than the ODI and Test sides. After the retirement of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja following India's T20I World Cup win, the T20I unit is expected to usher in a new era, which will feature more youngsters.
What Gambhir had said earlier about the importance of having all-format players
{{/usCountry}}However, Bumrah's place remains untouchable, along with Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav's. And it becomes all the more relevant given what Gambhir, in an old interview, rehashed by Star Sports, had to say.
"I'm a very strong believer in one thing, that if you're good, you should be playing all the three formats. I've never been a big believer in injury management, that you get injured, you go get recovered. As simple as it gets. When you're playing international cricket and you're good enough, you ask any of the top players, they want to play all the three formats. They don't want to stay and they don't want to be labelled as red-ball bowler or white-ball bowler," Gambhir said.
"Injuries are part of sportsman's life. And if you're playing all the three formats, you get injured, you go back, get recovered, but you should be playing all the three formats. I am not a big believer to identify people that, we're going to keep him for test matches or other formats. we're going to manage his injury and workload and stuff. Professional cricketers, you've got a very small span when you're playing for your country and you want to play as much as you can. And when you're in very good form, go ahead and play all the three formats."